


Joys of Fatherhood

by moonlight_petal



Series: We are family verse [2]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Grandpa Jack, Ma Dalton is the best, Mac is helpless, baby trouble, crying baby, exhausted Mac, sleep deprived Mac
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-14 16:22:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18479920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlight_petal/pseuds/moonlight_petal
Summary: 'Fatherhood is a difficult and scary thing and each passing day Mac's appreciation and respect for his grandfather and all the parents in general grew more and more.'Three days after David came into Mac's life, our blond genius realises that he's woefully unprepared for fatherhood.





	Joys of Fatherhood

**Author's Note:**

> Told you I'm turning this into a thing... seriously, I adore baby David. And since I was in dire need of some fluff, you'll get this now.

** Joys of Fatherhood **

 

Fatherhood is a difficult and scary thing and each passing day Mac's appreciation and respect for his grandfather and all the parents in general grew more and more. And he didn't even have it all that hard, David was the sweetest baby ever after all (in his completely 'unbiased' opinion). And yet, Mac felt out of his depth like never before, despite being a fast learner.

 

With Jack's help Mac mastered diaper changes, feeding and burping David quickly. He learned the difference between his 'I'm hungry' cry and his 'I want attention' cry but by god everything in between, Mac had no idea what he was doing.

 

The furniture, toys, clothes, books and other necessities Nikki had had delivered to him had helped a little as well and now, three days after David's arrival, his home at least looked like a semi-competent parent lived there. Not that Mac felt like one.

 

The blond hadn't slept in over 24 hours, his brain unable to shut down, too afraid he might miss it if his son needed him. And for several hours now, David hadn't really stopped to sleep for longer stretches at a time either, only varying his crying in volume and intensity.

 

"What is it, huh? If you could just tell me what's wrong..." Mac sighed, taking the nth circle of the living room with David in his arms.

 

Riley and Bozer were on a smaller mission for Matty while Jack had been tasked with mission command in the war room overseeing one of the Phoenix Tac teams performing a hit on a high value target to bring them in for questioning.

 

"Well at least, we're not keeping Bozer up as well, little man..." Mac sighed, gently wiping the exhausted tears from the baby's cheeks. In all honesty, Mac was close to tears himself, clueless, helpless and frustrated as he felt at the situation.

 

After another hour, David had just about passed out from exhaustion for the moment (something that only lasted a couple of minutes, Mac knew by now) and he caved and called his partner.

 

"Jack? Is this a bad time or can you talk?" he asked cautiously, mindful of the on-going mission and the focus it needed.

 

"Nah, bud, it's fine. We're past the difficult parts now, it's mostly clean up now, they can manage without me. What's up?" Jack's warm voice flooded Mac with relief.

 

"I need some grandpa advice... I have no idea what's wrong but David has been crying for hours now and only stops in between when he literally passes out from the exhaustion... what am I supposed to do?" he admitted.

 

Jack hummed thoughtfully on the other end of the line.

"I don't know, kid... you tried everything already?" the older asked. Mac knew he didn't mean it in a bad way, Jack was just trying to get a grasp on the problem himself. It wasn't like he had all that much experience himself.

 

"Yeah, I fed him, I changed him, I read to him and I've been carrying him around for several hours now, at this point I'm sick of listening to Beethoven... nothing worked..." Mac recounted, only barely able to keep his own emotions out of his voice.

 

"Hm... well... hang on a second..." Mac could hear a muffled conversation in the background, then Jack's voice giving a set of orders before he returned to the call. "Sorry about that, buddy... just needed to sign off with the team. Matty's taking over now, said I should go. Grandma says 'hi' by the way."

 

"Dalton!" Matty's voice snapped in the background again and for the first time that day, Mac laughed softly but stopped the moment David started to whimper again in his arms.

 

"So worth it. Alright, bud, hang in there, I'm on my way now, maybe we can figure out together what the problem might be." Jack finally reassured Mac before hanging up on him.

 

"Let's hope so, huh David! Maybe grandpa Jack can make everything better..." he murmured, got back to his feet and started circling around the room again.

 

**

 

Jack silently entered the house, not wanting to be the one to wake up the baby if Mac had finally gotten David to fall sleep.

 

A pitiful whine quickly dashed that hope. Jack found the MacGyver duo out on the deck.

"Hey... still at it, huh?" he greeted.

 

Mac nodded.

"Yeah, I figured maybe some fresh air would help but that didn't work out either..."

 

Gently Jack took the baby from Mac's arms.

"What's bothering you, munchkin..." he murmured, cradling the child in his arms, pressing a kiss on his forehead. That startled David out of his crying for a moment before he started right up again, if a little bit quieter than before.

 

"Huh... what did you do differently? I mean, in comparison to the last couple of hours, he's almost quiet now..." Mac wondered with wide eyes.

 

"No idea, Mac, maybe it's just someone else holding him for now..." the older looked at his friend, noting the exhaustion and dark circles. "Oh hell, kid... nevermind the little munchkin, when was the last time you got some shut eye?"

 

"It's been a while, but I'm fine, Jack. It's him I'm worried about... should I take him to a doctor or something?" the blond waved his concern away, voicing one of his own out loud.

 

"Not sure if a doc will help here but if everything else fails... I do have a last resort to try before that, though." Jack nodded to the door, leading the way back inside while fiddling with his phone. Shortly after Mac could hear the dial tone coming from the speaker.

 

"It's about time you call again. I was starting to think you've gotten lost in a ditch somewhere, you brat." An energetic, female voice came from the other end of the line.

 

Mac snorted in surprise and at Jack's stunned expression.

"Well hello, ma, I love you too!" the older said.

 

"Yeah, yeah... if that's so, why aren't you calling more often, huh?" Mrs. Dalton grumbled. "I would have thought that I raised my only son better than that."

 

"You did, ma and I'm sorry. It's been a bit stressful lately with work and everything. I'm trying, alright? Promise!" Jack quickly tried to soothe his mother's temper to actually be able to ask about the reason for his call. David, however, took matters into his own hands when he emitted a particularly loud wail.

 

"What? What was that? Jack Wyatt Dalton, you explain to your mother right now why there is a crying baby in your immediate vicinity! Don't tell me you turned me into a grandmother without telling me!" the woman snapped and Mac and Jack both froze at her tone.

 

"No, ma. The little one is not mine, he's Mac's..." Jack started, immediately realising his mistake.

 

"What?! Angus MacGyver, why is this the first I hear about this?" she snapped once again. Jack mouthed a silent 'sorry' at his partner, a sheepish grin on his face.

 

Grace Dalton, Jack's mother, otherwise known as Ma Dalton, had basically adopted Mac the minute Jack had taken him back to the family ranch in Texas for a visit some time after their return from Afghanistan.

 

"Sorry, Ma. It's a little complicated and still new, we didn't keep the news from you on purpose, I swear." Mac said, sounding contrite and as exhausted as he looked.

 

"Huh... alright, kid. Apology accepted. But I demand pictures soon!" she said, voice significantly softer than before.

 

That was another thing with Ma Dalton and Mac, just like Jack himself, his mother just couldn't stay mad with the blond. Jack just shook his head in disbelief.

 

"You'll get pictures soon, ma, we promise. But I actually did call for a reason. As you can hear, the little one isn't exactly happy at the moment and hasn't been for a while now, Mac's tried everything already but he won't stop crying and doesn't sleep. Do you, in you infinite motherly wisdom, have any idea what we should do to make it better?" Jack asked.

 

"Oh dear, that doesn't sound good, poor baby... he doesn't sleep you say?" the elder woman sounded thoughtful.

 

"Not really no, 15 minutes at a time and only when he's out of energy... he did quiet down a little bit when Jack got here and took him but not by much..." Mac confirmed, sounding miserable. "What am I doing wrong?"

 

"Sweetie, you not doing anything wrong, it's just one of these things, it can't be helped. Now, I'm not all that surprised that... hang on, what's the little one's name?" she interrupted herself when she realised she didn't know.

 

"David. David Harry MacGyver." the blond said.

 

"Alright, David. Beautiful name. As I was saying, I'm not entirely surprised he quieted down in my Jack's arms, Mac. Kids, especially as young as David are pretty sensitive to their surroundings. The way you're sounding, you're probably radiating stress, insecurity and anxiety right about now, David can pick up on that, which in turn intensifies whatever is bothering him at the moment. Jack is probably calmer than you at the moment, hence the quieter crying." Ma Dalton explained gently. "And don't you go feeling guilty about any of this, Angus MacGyver. There literally is nothing you can do about this, it's a very natural reaction every parent experiences." she added, knowing her boy very well. Jack grinned at that. Knowing Mac and calling him out on his shit was a real Dalton trait.

 

Mac sighed in frustration, nodded in understanding at the same time however, even if the elder Dalton couldn't see it.

"That makes sense, yeah..." he said.

 

"Alright, that's one mystery solved, ma. But we still have a crying munchkin here..." Jack tried to steer his mother back on the actual topic.

 

"Don't you hurry me, Jack. I'm coming to that. Now you said you tried everything already, Mac. Is he running a fever?" she continued.

 

"No, I checked, everything is withing normal parameters. That was actually my first thought since he does have a rather red face but no. I figured that was just a side effect of the crying." the blond replied.

 

"Mh, no fever but a red face... Jack, I assume you still have David? Try gently placing your hand on his tummy, he might not like it but does it feel bloated or tight?"

 

Mrs. Dalton definitely had been right about the fact that David wouldn't like the way Jack touched him and made that clear very loudly.

"I'm sorry, munchkin..." he murmured. "As far as I can tell, yeah you might be onto something here, ma."

 

When Jack pulled his hand away again, Mac carefully felt David's stomache himself, nodded at the revelation. It wasn't necessarily obvious to the eye but he could feel it.

 

"Well that might do it... it's more common within the first three months but can occur later at times as well. I think it's flatulence what's causing David such distress. Keep an eye on how he's drinking in the future, he might be sucking in too much air from the bottle. If that's the case, not too long ago I saw an ad about some kind of special bottle which prevents that from happening, might be a good idea to invest in one or two of those."

 

Jack was impressed. Not only by the competent advice his mother had given Mac and him, he hadn't exactly been surprised about that, she was a mother of three after all. No, what impressed him really was the way she instinctively knew without asking that apparently no mother was involved anymore here, that David was probably older than three months already and that Mac obviously fed him with a bottle.

 

"I can certainly do that, Ma but how can I help him now? There must be something I can do!" Mac wanted to know.

 

"There is, sweetie, don't worry. There are certain medications that are child friendly but the easiest thing I found with my children is fennel tea. Give him a small bottle of tea, again careful with the bottle, and it should ease the pain soon enough."

 

Mac smacked a hand against his forehead.

"Fennel tea, of course. There even was a box of it with all the other stuff! Thank you, Ma! I owe you!" he called out, as he ran into the kitchen to do exactly what Jack's mother had suggested.

 

"And off he goes..." Jack chuckled, rocking the whimpering child again. "Soon you'll feel better, munchkin. But really, ma, thank you. You helped us a lot. Hopefully the tea will help quickly and David finally gets some sleep, maybe I can make Mac go to sleep then as well before he collapses."

 

"Don't sweat it, son. I'm glad you called and if there is anything I can help you with, just let me know. You make sure our boy knows it too. And you take care of him, he won't do David any good if he runs himself into the ground." She said, sighing softly. "And tell him, he doesn't owe me anything apart from pictures, alright?"

 

Jack chuckled.

"Will do, ma. I promise. I'll call again, soon! Love you!"

 

"I love you too, son!"

 

Jack ended the call with a smile on his face, just when Mac returned with the bottle. Carefully he handed the boy over again to Mac and watched incredulously how eagerly David drank from the bottle. So eager in fact that Mac had to slow him down a bit.

 

"Ma wants a lot of pictures, that's all you owe her, she says." he said. "Oh and one other thing... since I became a granddad all of a sudden, that would make her Greatgrandma... if Matty already doesn't like being called Grandma, you haven't seen nothing yet and I'm not going to be the one telling her that, kid." he smirked at the sudden ghostly paleness of Mac's face.

 

"Traitor!" Mac whispered tonelessly.

 

Jack just laughed, taking the empty bottle from Mac when David was done.

 

It took another hour of them taking turns walking around the house for David to finally drop off properly. By that time Mac was mostly dead on his feet and Jack pushed him on his own bed after the blond had settled the baby in the crib.

"Go to sleep, Mac. You need it, son. I'll stay here, crash on the couch and keep an eye on David."

 

It was a testament to how exhausted Mac was that he didn't even put up a token of a fight. Instead he curled up in his bed and was fast asleep before his head had properly settled on the pillow.

"Sleep well, MacGyvers!" Jack grinned and left the room.

 

 


End file.
